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Introduction

The Study of Early Humans

The Climate of Human Evolution

Human Descent from Primates

Sahelanthropus, Orrorin, and Ardipithecus

Australopithecus

Homo

Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

G. Philip Rightmire

The best-characterized early members of the genus Homo include H. habilis, which lived roughly 2.4–1.5 million years ago, and H. rudolfensis, about 1.9–1.8 million years ago. Homo habilis was first discovered in the early 1960s at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania by Kenyan archaeologist and paleoanthropologist Louis S.B. Leakey and colleagues. The few fossils they uncovered suggested the existence of a hominin with a braincase slightly larger than that of the australopithecines. This hominin had…

Homo erectus

Homo heidelbergensis and Homo neanderthalensis

Homo floresiensis

Homo sapiens

Human Migration Out of Africa

The Development of Speech, Language, and Art

Technology

Shelter and Clothing

Additional Reading

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